


new beginnings

by peachyyyboy



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 16:04:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21079550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyyyboy/pseuds/peachyyyboy
Summary: It wasn’t so long ago that Jaehyun sat at the park watching children his age chase one another along the river.Without any friends to call his own, Jaehyun sat alone observing his surroundings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MochiGang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MochiGang/gifts).

Seoul looked so mesmerising at night.

_Meet me at our usual spot in 20_

That was the text Jaehyun received 25 minutes ago.

His best friend was never late and as he looked at his watch Jaehyun couldn’t help but get nervous. It didn’t help that he became conscious of his rapid heart beat, which caused his heart rate to increase even more.

The last few days had seemed like a blur. Summer mornings had blended into afternoons which blended into nights. Jaehyun would wake up in the late afternoon and spend the majority of the day with his best friend. Some days they would hang out by Hangang, riding their bikes through the park, eating fried chicken on the grass and when they were too exhausted to continue it would be time to watch the sunset over Seoul on the highest hill they could find.

These were Jaehyun’s favourite days.

It wasn’t so long ago that Jaehyun sat at the park watching children his age chase one another along the river. Without any friends to call his own, Jaehyun sat alone observing his surroundings.

_~_

_8 hours and 39 minutes left_

Jaehyun thought as he watched his mother’s car drive into the distance. Unperturbed by the frantic parents and children rushing to class, he stood unmoved beside the towering school gate. No one noticed the motionless boy staring into the distance. The sound of girls screaming broke his stream of thoughts, the screams were quickly followed by laughter. If he had spent a minute longer outside the school gates he would have been late for class, but he was not the slightest phased.

Jaehyun didn’t hate school.

He didn’t love it either.

What he didn’t love was how cliquey his school was. When his parents decided to move back to Korea after spending four years living in America, they wanted Jaehyun to attend the best of the best schools, in the heart of Gangnam. Even though 2 years have passed since he had returned to Seoul, Jaehyun couldn’t help but feel like an outsider. Jaehyun took his assigned seat, close to the window in the third row. As he unpacked his bag, the teacher announced to the class that they had to partner up for a research project.

_Not this again._

He unconsciously let out a loud sigh. It was only until every face in the classroom was looking at him, was it when he realised how loud it was.

“Jaehyun, did you have a problem with the assignment?”

“No Teacher Kim,” he sheepishly replied, avoiding eye contact.

He could feel his ears warming and he couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so he could go home. The embarrassed boy looked back down at his desk.

_Doyoung _

_Taeyong_

_ Johnny_

_Three_

Three, was the number of friends Jaehyun had. Zero of which were in the same year level as him. Doyoung was a year older and the closest to him in age, they met through singing classes. He admired Doyoung's eagerness and passion for singing. Taeyong and Johnny were two years older. He became friends with Taeyong through swimming lessons and Johnny through extracurricular basketball. 

It wasn’t a secret that Jaehyun had trouble making friends after returning to Korea.

He knew.

His teacher knew.

His parents knew.

It was the reason why his parents signed him up to as many extra curricular activities Jaehyun could handle. Whenever Jaehyun mentioned the names of his friends, he watched as his parents’ faces light up, trying to secretly smile at each other, proud that their intervention had worked.

Most days Jaehyun didn’t mind that he didn’t have any friends in his class. But it was days like today that he really wanted to have a friend. Maybe it was because everyone had already made best friends in the first four years of school that no one really made an effort to get to know Jaehyun. It wasn’t like his classmates were mean to him. And it wasn’t entirely their fault, Jaehyun didn’t make much of an effort to befriend them either. If you asked his parents they would say it’s because he spoke Korean slower than other children his age. For the last four years, Jaehyun spoke English, rarely speaking Korean with his parents.

Deep in thought, Jaehyun had missed the commotion and loud chatter of his classmates. At the front of the class, near the door, a lean tall woman with a petit boy Jaehyun had never seen stood next to the principal. The boy had tears forming, visibly shaking while grasping onto the corner of his mother’s suit jacket.

“He’ll be fine, I promise” his teacher gently said. The mother nodded and bent down to talk to her son, holding onto his hands. Jaehyun instinctively looked away. The moment seemed very intimate and his mother’s words echoed in his thoughts.

_Jaehyun it is rude to stare at people._

“Class we have a new student. His name is Sicheng, and he’s from China. He doesn’t know much Korean so please be kind to him and make him feel welcome,” the teacher announced and showed the small boy to the empty seat next to Jaehyun.

Jaehyun knew what it was like, moving to a different country, not knowing a single person and not being able to speak the language. Normally Jaehyun was too shy to initiate a conversation with another student but something inside him made him say it.

“Ni hao,” Jaehyun blurted out facing towards his new deskmate, his dimple smile showing.

The small boy next to him froze and quickly glanced towards the Korean boy whispering a small hello in Korean in return.

Jaehyun pouted his lips and tried to recall the other Chinese words he had learnt. His father made him attend private Chinese lessons in the States but he always ended up playing video games with his tutor because he found Chinese too hard. Jaehyun didn’t understand the different tones and naively thought learning Chinese would never be useful. At this moment he regretted not paying more attention. The only words he could remember were hello, i love you, and goodbye. He already used the first word, and the second was not appropriate unless he wanted to scare the Chinese boy away.

There was an aura that the new boy possessed that Jaehyun had never encountered before. He was different from his other classmates. It didn’t help that as Jaehyun looked at the boy, he noticed a small pointed left ear. It was like the elves in the Christmas cartoon movies he watched with his parents.

“We have to make a poster about a capital city“ Jaehyun said as he turned his full body towards the boy.

The other boy looked at Jaehyun with his eyebrows furrowed with a confused gaze. He started scratching his forehead with an outstretched finger. As Jaehyun stared at his face, he could see more tears forming in the other boys eyes. Jaehyun didn’t know what to do. Normally he was the one crying and others would comfort him. His parents told him even as a baby he would cry so much that they thought there was medically something wrong with him. After many doctors visits, every doctor assured his parents that Jaehyun was a healthy baby but had a lot of tears. Whenever he cries, his mum would hug him and say it’s alright repeatedly. Since he wasn’t close with the Chinese boy, he grabbed his hand which was shaking in his lap and squeezed it. Jaehyun said it’s alright in Korean slowly, paused and said it again. The tears eventually stopped and they sat there in silence flipping the textbook, finding the pages with pictures.

Sicheng was the most focused student during math class, solving each question with speed and accuracy. Despite the language barrier, he understood everything. He shyly smiled as the teacher saw his answer sheet and complimented him. Sport and music classes were Jaehyun’s favourite classes but math was one of his top subjects. When the teacher called Jaehyun’s name to answer the question, he went into panic mode. He was too focused on Sicheng, he wasn’t paying attention to the teacher. He anxiously stumbled with his words.

“Umm sorry which question?” he asked, fully aware that they were on number 25. He stared at the blank space adjacent to the number 25 on his page.

_Oh crap how do I do this again?_

As the teacher turned back to the board, an identical copy of the question sheet appeared on his desk, but this one had the working out for all the questions filled in. Jaehyun looked to his right to see the boy with a small smile. Their eyes encouraging and warm. He was a different boy from hours ago, who was clutching onto his mothers coat. This boy was brighter and happier, radiant even.

“Number 25, Jaehyun” the teacher sternly replied drawing out each syllable whilst turning to face the whiteboard and slowly encircling the digits several times to dramatically emphasise her response. To much of her surprise Jaehyun instantly replied with a very detailed perfect answer.

“Thank you Sicheng,” Jaehyun whispered in Chinese, returning the question sheet that saved him from humiliation. He was immensely grateful for Sicheng’s generosity.

  
“Don’t worry about it,” Sicheng replied in Chinese. Even though Jaehyun wasn’t completely sure what Sicheng said, at the same time he just knew.

The teacher didn’t pick on Jaehyun again, neither did she ask Sicheng to answer.

The cafeteria smelled like kimchi fried rice, causing Jaehyun’s stomach to grumble. In the corner of the cafeteria, Sicheng sat with a tray with no food. He looked scared, as though he was standing at the front of the classroom again.

_Does he not like Korean food?_

_That’s ridiculous, Jaehyun._

_Korean food is delicious._

Jaehyun joined the back of the queue. When his tray was filled with different dishes, he sat beside the boy with the empty tray. He pushed his tray in front of the Chinese boy.

“Here you can take mine,” Jaehyun said proudly.

The other boy looked up with a confused look on his face. He stared at the food and then back at Jaehyun. It was only then that Jaehyun noticed the wet face of the younger boy.

“You,” Jaehyun pointed to Sicheng gently speaking in Chinese.

“Eat,” Jaehyun said in English, using hands gestures pretending to eat using an imaginary spoon.

Sicheng looked at Jaehyun for another few seconds before nodding. As Sicheng tried different foods, he would either make a disgusted face or "mmmm" sound as he ate. Jaehyun laughed every time Sicheng screwed up his face, looking like he ate a sour lemon. Every time Jaehyun laughed Sicheng would laugh too. Their laughter made the other children look at them. Usually this would embarrass Jaehyun and his ears would turn a bright tomato colour since he hated being the centre of attention, but he was too concentrated on Sicheng he didn’t notice the faces looking at him.

That night Jaehyun ran into his bedroom.

  
“Jaehyun I forgot to ask but how was sch-“ his mother enquired dropping her keys onto the granite kitchen tabletop. She had been too busy telling Jaehyun about the new drama she had started.

  
“Not now mum,” Jaehyun quickly replied searching through a cardboard box that he had shoved into the back of his closet.

He tipped the box upside down and spotted what he was looking for. A red book. His old Chinese dictionary. He grabbed the nearest pen on his desk and tore a piece of paper from his school notebook. As he scribbled down the chinese characters, he smiled to himself. Jaehyun could not remember when he had been this excited for school.

The next morning, a piece of paper lay on the new boy’s desk.

Hello Sicheng  
I like you  
Do you want to be friends?

On the bottom of the page there were two boxes. Next to one box, it said yes and the other read no.

The Chinese boy read the paper again and again, making sure he wasn’t reading it wrong. The characters were messy, a few incorrect strokes here and there, but still legible. He turned to his left. Jaehyun was looking down at his desk with red ears that he tried to hide with his red hands. The Chinese boy smiled to himself and marked the paper.

In Jaehyun’s periphery, he could see Sicheng make several strokes.

Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

He closed his eyes and heard the boy next to him shift. The small white paper had appeared on his desk. Jaehyun opened his eyes as he heard the younger boy’s high pitched giggle, returning back to his seat. The paper that was returned not only had a tick in the box with yes but a few corrections. Jaehyun let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Good morning class,” their teacher said, looking at Jaehyun. 

For the first time, Jaehyun believed her. 

~

“The best morning,” Jaehyun whispered to himself as a familiar face came into view. Jaehyun tightly held a small piece of paper. The paper had been folded and unfolded nearly thirty times today. His anxiousness lessened as the boy with a single elf ear and distinctive phoenix eyes who had grown taller than him waved his lanky arms at Jaehyun. 

Maybe this could be the best night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ an alternative ending ~

“Sicheng you’re late, you owe me a coffee,” Jaehyun yelled in a jokingly disapproving tone shaking his head while jogging up to his friend.

As Jaehyun jogged closer to Sicheng, he knew something was not right. Something was very wrong. Sicheng was never this late to their usual meetups, never a whole 60 minutes late. He could feel a somber mood hanging in the air. It felt like a rush of cold breeze in late autumn. It didn’t match the summer backdrop of children riding bicycles and people lying on picnic rugs laughing and chatting the day away. 

Jaehyun stopped in his tracks, analysing the boy in front of him. The look on the boy’s face was eerily familiar. 

~

“Jae...”  Sicheng said timidly.

“Sicheng,” Jaehyun replied after a pause waiting for his friend to continue. 

There was no reply. 

A few seconds passed before Sicheng suddenly yelled into the phone.

“I won’t go! They can’t make me go. It’s not fair.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“This is my home now. I’ll run away if they make me leave.”

“Wha-“ 

The call ended and Jaehyun tried to call his friend back but it kept going to voicemail. 

_ _

_ Home _

_ Run away _

The Jungs were in the middle of their weekly movie night, today was Aladdin. Just when A Whole New World started, a loud banging on the door filled the apartment. Jaehyun’s father paused the movie and went to open the door. A panicked pair of parents greeted him and apologised for the disturbance. 

“Have you seen our son? We tried calling you but you didn’t pick up. He isn’t in his bedroom.” 

The voice belonged to Sicheng’s father. He had never heard him so anxious before. Jaehyun shifted on the couch to hear the conversation better. 

_ Where was Sicheng?  _

_ Maybe he was hungry and sneaked out to the convenience store.  _

_ They always did that when Jaehyun slept over at his.  _

“Sorry we were watching a movie, we didn’t hear your call. Sicheng isn’t here. Do you want us to help find him?” 

“No that won’t be necessary,” Sicheng’s father answered switching to his deep professional voice. Jaehyun had only met Mr Dong a handful of times and he always seemed busy, sternly talking on the phone with this voice. 

The door locked closed and you could hear a pin drop. 

“Yoonoh do you know have any idea where Sicheng is?”

“No,” he lied. 

Jaehyun was a bad liar but he hoped that he was improving. He needed to find an excuse to leave and find Sicheng. 

“Are you sure?” 

Jaehyun nodded his head. 

They continued watching the movie but Jaehyun kept staring at the photo frame next to the television. The photo was from his last birthday, an ice skating party. His first birthday with Sicheng. The two boys smiling so wide that their eyes appeared almost closed. It was his best birthday. 

“I forgot to buy bread on my way home from work,” Jaehyun’s father said pausing the movie.

“Bread? I just bou-“Jaehyun’s mother instantly replied but paused mid sentence when she looked at her husbands face. 

“Jaehyun did you want to get some fresh air and do us a favour and buy a loaf of bread?”

For 10 minutes he was unaware that his father had been watching him unmoving, uninterested in one of his favourite movies. Jaehyun eagerly jumped at the chance to leave. 

“Sure you can keep watching the movie because I might be gone for a long time.... You know there might be a big queue or something,” Jaehyun couldn’t believe himself, he really needed to improve his lying skills. 

At their usual spot by Hangang, the older boy grabbed the other’s shoulders. As Sicheng turned around, Jaehyun pulled him into a hug. 

“Just tell me what’s happening.”

“We’re moving back to China.” 

Jaehyun could swear his heart stopped for a moment. 

This must be a nightmare. 

A very bad nightmare. 

His arms tightly wrapped around his friend, pulling his sobbing friend closer.

This was not the last time Jaehyun would hear those words. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! 
> 
> tell me your thoughts below 
> 
> this is my first fic so please be kind <3


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